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Having One's Fill: What a Colossal Waste

A study warns that global garbage could double in 12 years, due to urbanization and the increasing prosperity of developing nations. The trend may augur economic unsustainability, particularly in materials.

As if there weren't enough already to fret about, now we can look forward to seeing the mountain of global garbage doubling in the next 12 years, which may signal economic unsustainability, particularly in materials.

That's the conclusion of the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington research outfit. It issued a recent report on the growing problem of municipal solid waste—a byproduct of urbanization and the increasing prosperity that is being enjoyed by developing countries. Such waste consists of organic materials, metals, plastic, and other refuse collected by municipalities. It does not include sewage or industrial waste.

Trashy: A doubling of the world's municipal solid waste by 2025 could create economic unsustainability.
William Waitzman for Barron's

"There are many dimensions of waste being unsustainable," says Gary Gardner, a senior fellow at the institute and the report's author. The waste pileup "can't continue without causing major problems," he says.

Among them: greenhouse gases that escape from landfills, and health and pollution issues, particularly in developing countries where landfills aren't regulated.

The implications for investors are sobering, too. Metals prices, which generally fell in the 20th century, have been generally rising for the past 10 years, as some ore grades decline and signs of scarcity emerge, Gardner says. Only about one-quarter of the world's garbage goes into recycling or composting, he says.

Meanwhile, more metals are finding their way into the trash heap. "If you're not pricing commodities to reflect their future scarcity value, there won't be an economic incentive to try to recycle them," he says.

Tuesday 14

Retail sales for July are reported, an important indicator for "getting a sense how confident the consumer is," says Jerry Webman, chief economist of OppenheimerFunds. "It would be a real disappointment if we didn't see a bounce-back this month" from June's negative number, he says. Sales have declined for three straight months.

A bankruptcy judge hears a request from LightSquared lenders to force the wireless venture's main backer, Harbinger Capital, to open its books.

Wednesday 15

The Consumer Price Index is seen rising a tame 0.2% in July from June, with a "largely neutral" contribution from gas prices, says Barclays Capital.

Shareholders ofForest Laboratories
will vote on whether to approve a slate of dissident directors backed by activist investor Carl Icahn. Two proxy-advisory firms have split on whether to back the company or Icahn.